After the Storm
by juiluscaesar
Summary: Max chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, so the tornado comes and destroys as much as it can in its path. However, it's never that easy to obliterate a town just like that. Pricefield cuteness! This is also on Wattpad.
1. What Remains

Remnants of the destroyed town were scattered along streets which were once cleared for Max and Chloe to venture around just five years back. Although Chloe knew it was highly unlikely that her house survived through the storm, she wanted to check to be sure. She had mostly everything that she held near and dear to herself, having had prior knowledge of the storm thanks to Max's celestial, unexplained powers.

Max was slouching on the other side of the truck, trying desperately to wipe away the tears before Chloe could notice. However, Chloe knew, but she had no idea how to comfort her. Max just wiped out an entire fucking town for her, she could barely comprehend that in the first place. They both wanted to forget that it ever happened. They just wanted to sail away and explore the treacherous crevices that the world had to offer them, like pirates. Neither of them wanted to accept that their worlds have now changed forever.

Both of them wanted to break the silence, but it was impenetrable. As they pulled up to what remained of Chloe's house, Max grasped Chloe's hand. Max wanted to show support in some way, at least. Chloe looked at her and acknowledged it by nodding. It was a sad nod, however, and just looking into Chloe's sad, blue, puppy-dog eyes made Max's eyes glossy. The carpet where Chloe and Max spilled wine was gone, the television where they watched Blade Runner countless times was gone, almost everything was destroyed, the tornado made sure of that. The only thing that still remained were Max and Chloe's fond memories of childhood, even including the past week where they danced, laughed, reconnected, kissed. No one could tarnish that. No living thing, nor any natural disaster.

Chloe started the truck, but Max put her hand on Chloe's arm and furrowed her eyebrows. "You're not going to check it out? You could find something!" She tried to be as optimistic as she could, but the memories of every person she possibly killed haunted her brain as soon as she ripped that picture apart.

"Why would I? It's a shithole now. There's literally nothing left."

Max got out of the car in protest and ran over to the house. Chloe quickly ran after her, "Hey! What are you doing? That's dangerous!"

"Just saying, there are still some pieces of wood!" Max retorted. She picked up a piece of paper, which somehow made it out of all things. It wasn't just paper, though, it was a picture of Chloe and Rachel, the one that was on all of those posters that were once scattered around town.

"Holy shit," Chloe grabbed the picture from Max's hand, "how did that survive?"

"I have no clue, Che. Maybe her spirit is that powerful."

"After everything we've been through this week, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case." Since Chloe, well, Max, found the picture of her and Rachel, she wanted to see what else she could find.

After what seemed like hours of searching through the rubble, Chloe fell to her knees from exhaustion. "Let's jet, Mad Max. I don't think there's going to be anything else left."

Max sighed, wiping her hands on her, as Chloe called them, generic jeans. "Should we check to see if anyone is still alive?"

Chloe perked up and ran into the car, starting it immediately. "David might be if he stayed in the bunker, and I just need to know if the Two Whales survived that storm. I have to, Max." Max jolted as Chloe slammed her foot on the gas pedal, not caring about anything else that could possibly happen in that moment.

"I don't want to lose anyone anymore." Chloe muttered to herself as a single tear strolled down her face and onto her lap.

Max wiped it away and frowned, "I know, Che, you'll always have me forever. No matter what."

Chloe nodded, swallowing back the tears that she had been choking on since that fateful Monday morning. She had Max, she showed all of the love that she could possibly give to Chloe within those five days. She knew that Max was trying to make up for the lost time between them. Even though she practically had the concept of time at her mere fingertips, she could never change the fact that her parents moved and that they lost touch. Chloe did appreciate it, though, and she knew how much love they had for one another. Everything that Chloe had believed previously has now become a clean slate.

As they pulled up to the bunker, the two realized that the farm itself was completely gone, but the hatch leading to the bunker was still there. They ran to it and opened it, walking in and finding David with Jefferson unconscious next to him.

David's jaw dropped at the sight of them as he brought them into his arms. "Max, Chloe, you two are okay!"

"You have no idea how happy we are to see you, David." Max smiled in glee, just as Chloe did.

"Ugh, why did _he_ survive?" Chloe pointed to Jefferson, who was making slight movements.

"I could not answer that even if I tried. Um, i-is Joyce okay?" David asked, stumbling over his words in nervousness.

"We don't know. We wanted to see if you were okay first." Max chimed in.

"Good lord, I really hope she is. Where were you two during the storm?"

"We were at the lighthouse. The storm didn't reach there." Chloe's voice was still shaky from crying earlier, as well as thinking about the possibility that both of her biological parents might be dead now.

"Oh. Well, thank goodness you two are alive. Go check on Joyce, though. Tell me what happens." David said, still with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

"Why can't you come with us?" Max inquired.

"Gotta keep this shithead in place," David pointed to Jefferson, "I'm hoping for the best, though, for all of our sakes."

"Me too, David." Chloe slumped her shoulders as she turned around and left the bunker.

Chloe and Max bolted to the truck and Chloe sped off. The wait was killing both of them, they just had to know. Max turned herself to Chloe, "No matter what we find, I'll always be with you. I'll always support you through thick and thin."

Even though Chloe wanted to bring up that Max never had her back during those five years, she stayed silent. She couldn't let this consume her forever. She loved Max, she always has and she always will. There isn't a thing that she wouldn't do for her and Max showed her through sacrificing Arcadia Bay that she feels the same way about her. They were soulmates, and they knew it. But the term 'soulmates' is typically misconstrued. It has more than one meaning. It can be the person that you're meant to be with for the rest of your life, it can also just be your best friend that you get along with very well, it can be many things. Chloe knew that Max fit perfectly into each and every category, and Max knew the same.

"Thank you, Max. I'll always have your back, too. I kind of owe you after you sacrificed an entire town for me," Chloe chuckled, but Max frowned, "shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Max's eyes started to well up, so she turned away. Chloe looked over to her and pulled over to the side of the street.

"What are you doing?" Max wiped away the tears.

Chloe brought her in for a hug, making sure she knew how grateful she was for someone in her life like Max. Fuck the past five years. Fuck everything. Chloe is Max's number one priority, so Max is her number one priority. Max reciprocated the hug, letting the tears flow. There was so much love in that one hug. Chloe made sure of that.

"Max, I love you. I feel like I've neglected to show you that through these five days. You went through fucking hell and back for me so many times when I'm not worthy of it. I'm not worthy of you, Mad Max. Thank you, I'm sorry." Chloe let go of the shorter girl and pulled onto the road.

"Chloe?" Max's voice cracked.

"Yeah?" Chloe looked over at Max for a brief second before refocusing on the road before them.

"I love you, too."


	2. Who Remains

As Chloe pulled up next to Two Whales, the girls noticed that it was only slightly torn apart, compared to the other buildings that looked demolished. Chloe ran to the diner with Max, both of them digging through the debris.

Max heard coughing under one of the pieces of wood. "Chloe! Help me lift this one."

Chloe ran over to where Max was and helped her lift the tattered piece of wood that once held up the sweet aroma of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, coffee, and maple syrup. Under that piece of wood was Joyce. She was bruised, bloody, covered in dirt... the only place you could see her skin was where her tears had stained her cheeks.

"Mom! You're okay!" Chloe pulled Joyce into her arms, crying tears of joy as Max smiled.

"I'm going to check if there's anyone else under the rubble." Max walked away, trying to listen for any signs of life. She heard a scream, though, and it was a scream like none that Max had ever heard. This was a real scream of someone struggling and dying, and it scared her to know that she did this. She ran over to where she heard the scream and pulled the piece of wood off of the person with the help of the adrenaline that shot through her body. It was Frank.

"Holy shit, I saw the light before my eyes… thank you, Max. I thought I was a goner."

"You're welcome, Frank. I'm sorry about Rachel, by the way." Max frowned, knowing how hard that tidbit of information she gave yesterday was crushing Frank.

Frank looked down, "She was my angel, the only thing that was good in life, and she was just stripped away from me just like that. Uh, do you need help looking for other survivors?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," Max replied coolly. She knew how much both Frank and Chloe were struggling with the loss of, as they both said, their angel. The weight of knowing that she destroyed an entire town by choice was also killing her. Frank and Chloe don't have a home anymore, they lost their angel, and it seemed like the only thing keeping both of them going were the ominous beats in their chest, which, in Chloe's case, Max had to restore many, many times.

"Yo, Max! I found the science nerd, but he doesn't look so good." Chloe shouted, and as soon as she did, Max ran over to see the condition that Warren was in. His face was battered and bloody, he looked pale and made only minuscule movements with his fingertips.

"Max, just go find others, there are more people that need help. Don't waste your time on me." Warren said weakly, the way he spoke was cinematic. It seemed scripted and it drove Max crazy. She knew she couldn't save him, though, there was nothing that could repair him to the crazy science nerd that he once was. He was broken.

"I'm sorry, Warren." Max choked up, knowing this would be the last thing she'd ever say to him.

"Come on, Max, we have to get Joyce to David." Chloe helped Joyce to her truck, as did Max. Tears streamed down Max's face as she realized what she was really doing to Warren. She did want to help everyone and as many people as she could, but Chloe was her main priority. She was the most important thing to her, nothing else could measure up to Chloe Price, her pirate, her partner in crime, her partner in time.

"I'm so proud of you both. You two," Joyce choked back some tears, "aren't kids anymore. You're both taking everything like adults, hell, like heroes. Chloe, you've grown so much over these five days, I'm so happy. Max, thank you for shaping my daughter up," Joyce chuckled, "you guys deserve each other."

Chloe and Max smiled at each other, "Don't worry mom, we'll always be partners in crime. No matter what happens, we'll always have each other's back."

"Don't be so cheesy, Che." Max smiled, and at that point, she knew how in love she really was with Chloe. It was indescribable…

" _The moment I saw her beautiful pissed off face and butterfly blue hair, I wanted to kiss her again."_

Max put her hand on Chloe's thigh, trying to inconspicuously show her love for Chloe, as she did not know how to express it yet. She wanted to give Chloe all the happiness that she could give her. Max, being a confused teenager who has fallen in love for the first time, had no idea how to do such a thing. She still can't understand how or why she was granted the power of time travel. _Why was it her?_ Why would 'fate' bring Max and Chloe together, only to force them to break apart once more? Or was this all to bring Rachel closure? _Why was it her?_ Did this happen to other people, was she the only one? _Why her?_

Perhaps it had to be _her,_ perhaps Rachel knew it had to be Max who had to save Chloe and give her and Rachel that closure. Perhaps Rachel knew that with her gone, Max would be the only person to bring Chloe at least some sanity. After all, Joyce was right. Chloe changed. She was ready to give up her entire life for people that she claimed to hate. Before Max left and William died, Chloe was compassionate, grateful, she was radiant. She needed structure in her life, and the structure that she needed came from none other than Max Caulfield.

As they pulled up to the, once decrepit, now destroyed farmhouse, Joyce had a puzzled look on her face. "Why did we come here?"

"It's a long story, Mom, but David is here." Chloe opened the car door, helping her mother out. Max got out on the other side, wrapping one arm around Joyce, the other holding her right hand.

"David!" Chloe screamed as she opened the hatch to the hellish bunker.

"What? Is it your mo-" David's words stopped right in his tracks as soon as she saw Joyce. He broke into tears when he saw everything that she had been through plastered right in front of him. The pain, the suffering, everything was shown through her hurting eyes, as well as the blood and the dirt and the bruises and the tears which gracefully stained her cheeks.

While all of this was happening, Chloe had a bad feeling about Max, considering since she just saw one of her only friends die in front of her _for good._ There was no going back, no rewinding, they already survived one storm, there wasn't going to be another one, not on Max's watch.

Chloe pulled Max into a different section of the hellscape and sat down. "Mad Max, how are you holding up?"

This caused Max to burst into tears, but she quickly hushed her tears to a quiet, blubbery sob. "I'm not, Chloe. I killed so, so many people. The worst thing is that I would do it again, and again, and again if it meant you could survive."

Chloe hugged Max from the side, holding her tightly and crying beside her. They had gone through hell and back that week, but they were also on top of the fucking world, just as long as they had each other, they knew they could get through anything.

"Max… I really can't express my love for you and my gratitude for you. You endured so much over the course of this week, all for me, for Rachel… you mean everything to me. I love you, and not that bullshit platonic love that everyone has. Fuck it, I've loved you for so long and I thought I lost you when you left. You came back… you came back. Not necessarily for me, but you made me your number one priority. You fucking gave up your dream of San Francisco for me! My love for you has only grown stronger since you came back. Without you, I would literally be dead. You saved my life… and I really don't know how else to thank you. But there, I love you."

"Oh, Chloe." Max turned to face her and grinned. Everything that was going on inside of Max was indescribable, everything was happening at once. Her heart started to beat faster, her breath quickened its pace, she started to feel a bit dizzy and sweaty. Max put her hand on Chloe's cheek. Their eyes locked and it was like two oceans mixing together to create a beautiful, scenic clash of two polar opposites. But they made it work, for it was, as mentioned, beautiful and scenic. Max leaned in for the kiss that fate had seemingly been preparing for them for their entire lives, only to whisk their happiness away from them. Max wouldn't let Chloe get away that easily, though. Fate would have to destroy the entire fucking world to even get near Chloe.

The kiss itself was gentle and fragile, it held up everything to which those five days built up. It was the one that they both wanted and craved, it was the one that actually had meaning behind it, it wasn't some stupid dare that could be misconstrued as 'just a dare,' this was real and there was so much love behind it all.

"Holy shit," Chloe smiled, and for the first time that week, Max could tell that it was genuine.

"I love you, Chloe. I hope you know that." Max rested her forehead against Chloe's, kissing her nose gently.

Chloe smiled and grabbed Max's hand, "You're a fucking dork."


End file.
